Feeling Lucky

Sometimes things just work out in your favour. Case in point: I had bought a cute skirt on sale at Forever 21 but the only size they had was large. The darn thing nearly fell off my hips but I gamely wore it with a safety pin. Last night I washed it by mistake in a load on warm and it shrunk. Shrunk to just the right size. Some days the Universe is on my side.

I am feeling very lucky.

Merry Yule!

I hope every one is having  a wonderful holiday season. We had our family Yule celebration yesterday and it was a lovely family gathering. We ate so much food and even when our elderly cat hopped up on the table and stepped in the middle of the cheesecake we didn't let it get us down. The kids were all happy with the presents they got and I even cried when I open the present from my husband. He actually took time and got me a lovely gift that was me. He dioes get me.

I didn't even expect it. I think the fact it was a total surprise was the best gift of all. Blessings to you, my friends and may you all have love this season.

Ads, Lies and Cheap Tricks

 

I was reading an article on how French women stay beautiful. Of course this was a thinly disguised advertisement for all the products offered up. Some of the advice seemed like a good idea, like how washing with your tap water might be exposing your skin to toxins. Then they offer up this awesome spa water! French women swear by it so it must be good. Do you want to pay $12 or more for water? I mean, I could just buy a bottle of Crystal Geyser for a couple of bucks. Heck, if I get the gallon size it is cheaper.

I guess I am so tired of all these super expensive lists of "must haves" that we need for perfect skin, great style, good health et al. I am so over it. So you say oils are great for your skin and hair? Good. I have a nice big jar of coconut oil I bought off of amazon. I got rose hip too. I stopped buying crazy expensive body lotions that did nothing and now use coupons  and buy Nivea cream. I wait for a sale even then. It smells nice too. I think you still can't beat witch hazel as a toner for oily skin.

They listed a bunch of other mumbo-jumbo products that I have no idea who would actually use. I just figure they were thrown in as filler or to pad their wallet from advertising fees. The last item on the list was to have a signature lipstick. A colour that looks good on you and you can wear all the time. Now I did like this idea. Not that I could pick a colour and stick with it out of the 50 lipsticks I own. It is an interesting thought, though.

So tell me how you might save money on your beauty products? A  girl has to afford her lipstick ;)

Style, Fashion, And What We Really Wear

I have been thinking on on this issue quite a bit lately. If you are like me you often buy clothes on a whim, or because they are in style, look comfy etc. We don't usually look at our clothes as a whole entity. Ones that fit like pieces of a puzzle into our wardrobes. Not only to match what we have, but to match "us": To go with what your lifestyle is, your colour preferences. This piecemeal shopping approach has led most of us to a closet full of haphazard clothes choices that we don't wear.

After spending this year with most of my clothes in storage, just pulling out a few for capsule wardrobes, I have made important insights about my own habits and I have realized that; 

1. I have clothes that do not flatter me

2. I have clothes that do not fit me

3. I have clothes I like the look of but hate wearing.

I really think if I had not started rotating my wardrobe in small capsules I would not have completely understood this. I guess I knew it but I didn't really KNOW it until I had a limited amount of choices and I still bypassed those items.

So now that I have come to terms with this, letting go of those items will be much easier. I have decided to pare down even more the amount of clothes that I have. This journey had been a long one but the road is getting smoother.

Oh Dear God,The Glitter

I decided to try and use some loose glitter on my eyelids like I had seen in all the fashion pages. Dear goddess I am going to go blind. Despite the use of glue I have glitter everywhere except where I wanted it.

The amount IN my eyeball and underneath my eyes is frightening. Obviously I am glitter challenged. Please someone make it go away! 

Peldyn

Contouring

I have attempted contouring once before but I thought I would give it another shot. I am not really good at this but I am willing to experiment!

Here is my plain face. I washed with barefaced oil used my regular moisturizer then primed with smashbox primer.

Here I used contouring according to what I read online. I look like a clown now but it was fun to apply. 

These are all the products I used on my face. 

I am not sure if the finished look is much of an improvement. I still look tired. I guess nothing fixes late nights other than sleep ;)

Are you experimenting with contouring? Let me know what you think about it.

Peldyn

Let's Makeup

A quick trip to Ulta to pick up powder foundation and I came away with a deal. Nyx is buy two get one free. 

Since I needed some setting powder too I also picked up the eyeshadow as it was so pretty. Total before sale and coupons $34.99. I used the $3.50 off a $10.00 purchase and then one of the powders was free so before tax my total was $21.50! Sweet! 

Here is to a beautiful week,

Peldyn

Getting Frosted

The Fashion Forecast is calling for a return of frosted lipstick for Fall.

I used Julep's Skip The Brush in Golden Guava with Desert Rose layered over. I lined with Avon's lip liner in Chocolate. I think if you don't go over the top frosted it is very wearable. Key is to keep the eyes neutral. What trend will you be trying this Fall?

Peldyn

Table on a Shoestring

I am all about doing stuff on the cheap. Take this table I just repainted. 

It started out as my old, scratched, heat marred, water ringed, dining room table that I had bought at Pier 1 years ago on close out for only $79.00. Over the years kids and grandkids had left their damage.

My original plan had been to strip it and then restain. A few months looking through Pinterest changed my mind.  

First off I had all these cans of Oops! Paint that I had bought at Home Depot and Lowes on clearance.

I had used some of them already on various little projects so they have almost paid for themselves. I also had a partial can of sealing wax from refinishing an old buffet I bought off an online yard sale site. Then I found a Moroccan stencil and I downloaded it from this site: http://7thhouseontheleft.com/2011/08/window/

I printed out 4 copies of the stencil and used fabric adhesive to hold them in place while I traced around them with a sharpie. 

I tried to keep about 1/2 inch space between each motif. I just eyeballed it. After the whole table was drawn out in sharpie I went in and started painting. I used one colour at a time and tried to be random. I didn't over saturate each space with the paint as I wanted the brush strokes to show. I was going for a very earthy, organic look. I also let a bit of the black of the sharpie peek out. It helped make each motif "pop". A coat of the sealing wax and it is done.

Now if I could just finish the rest of my kitchen...

Peldyn

Just Let Go

I don't know about you but I have a habit of hanging on to things. At least once or twice a year I have to make myself go through and get rid of the accumulation of "stuff".  I came across this article which had some very good advice on how to tame it.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7953356?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000032

So this week I am letting go of stuff. And maybe letting in bliss.

Peldyn

Washing with Oil: Slick or Sick?

One of the trends lately has been to use oil to wash your face with instead of cleansers or soap.i had resisted trying it until one of my fav nail polish/makeup companies came out with a product called Bare Face. It is rose hip oil based. I have been using it for a few months now and I really like it. It cuts through make up and mascara very well and as you massage it on you can really feel it cleaning out your pores

After rinsing it off, my skin does not feel dry and tight. I do have oily skin but I don't feel it has made it oilier. I think it feels more balanced and I am breaking out less. I have also experimented with making my own mix with sesame seed, almond and olive oils. That works nicely too. 

I have to say that with the results I have been getting I will continue using oil to wash my face. It is cheaper in the long run as I don't need eye make up remover.  I use less moisturizer, and I haven't had to buy anti- acne products. Win win! If you haven't tried oil, do it and let me know what you think.

Peldyn

The End of Skinny

 

I have been reading a lot lately about the end of the skinny jean trend. While I don't believe they will disappear completely it is refreshing to see other styles at the forefront. One I am currently digging is the boyfriend jean worn cuffed. Thank goodness your local thrift store has most of the new trends on its racks for a song.

Victoria's Secret London Jean from Goodwill $5.00

Here's to good hunting and good fashion!

Peldyn 

Unpotted Makeup Progress Report

As you can see, I have a good amount of eyeshadow unpotted and put into my blank palette. I actually made this palette as I could not find any large ones in stock on etsy. I bought a 12x24 inch magnetic sheet from Amazon for about 8 bucks. I had an extra foam board I used to make the rim of the "well" and the base is scrap cardboard and fabric. I think I should be able to fit all my eyeshadows in this. I will need another for cheek/lips. Not a bad effort though I might try washi tape to cover the next one. I highly recommend trying this if you are the slightest bit crafty.

Cheers!

Peldyn

Makeup Clean Out

Spring is here and it is time to clean out my makeup. I am going all out and throwing all kinds of stuff away. 

First off it has to pass the smell test. If anything smells off or bad out it goes. 

If it is broken and I am not liking it enough to try the rubbing alcohol repair on it, buh bye!

Next I am getting rid of all those colour mistakes. We all have bought a colour a  sales girl talked us into that we later regretted. Bye bye Felecia!

With what is left I am going to remove all my eyeshadows, blushes, pan glosses, etc from their compacts and put them into larger blank palettes. I did a Facebook post about it here:

https://www.facebook.com/styleonashoestring/posts/10152782615090292:0

Now I should have a better and less cluttered makeup shelf. Wish me luck because I have a feeling this is going to take all weekend!

Peldyn

Decorating on a Shoestring

This weekend I lost my mind... Umm well I got my Pier 1 flyer and just had to re-do my living room. Same thing. Now, I do not have the thousands of dollars to achieve that ethereal, effortless look. I just have bins of old decor  in the garage rafters, boxes of old fabric and a burning fever to get rid of all the dust bunnies lurking god knows where. Now the cornerstone of this new look is a neutral couch;

my couch is red. Red like a cheap glass of wine.

I need a glass of wine after the stink eye my cat gave me.

I knew I would have to at least cover it since I could not afford to replace it. This meant trekking all over town looking at the ugliest covers in existence. Taupe, grey, tan, brown, dirt, mud, phlegm... All the neutrals. I finally found an off white  cover at Bed, Bath and Beyond. This siren of a store ensnared me by the register with their CLEARANCE ON CHRISTMAS! I barely made it out of there with my pocketbook intact. The fact that it was full of dust instead of greenbacks helped.

I stopped at Trader Joe's for a back up bottle of wine and saw a potted plant. Touché. I obviously had to buy it.

Having assembled my various items I needed to prep the room.

I need to buy stock in Swiffer 360 dusters :/  I then stripped all my old boring decor and burned it on a bonfire... Well, actually cheap-o me packed it away. Then using the pages of the Pier 1 flyer I attempted to decorate.

Here I plotted a design with plates to put on the wall. I actually had all these plates in my cupboard. The floral spray I dug out from some old Easter decorations.

Then the hubby saw what I was doing and said to me "NO NEW HOLES IN THE WALLS!" Ahhhh dammit.

Not too bad. I used fabric from my stash to cover pillows and picked up two pillows from Lowes with a bird motif.

Another newly covered pillow, the plant from Trader Joe's and decor dug out of the garage. I even used crinkle paper that came as packing material in a package to fill the empty space between the plant and the stone pot. Take that Martha Stewart! I then dug through my candle collection, Wait, don't you have a candle collection? I buy candles after every holiday on sale and save them for a rainy day, disaster or fit of delusion. I placed candles on every available surface. Cos that is what designers do.

So the damage done to redecorate was:

BB&B $67

Trader Joe's $7

Lowes $28

Sanity priceless

I do not recommend this for the faint of heart. I am spending the next day or so with that bottle of wine.

Cheers!